The poinsettia's color comes not from its flowers, which are small and yellow, but from its brilliant red leaves or bracts. A native of Mexico, it was named for Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Its botanical name, Euphorbia pulcherrima, means beautiful euphorbia. Claude McKay, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, came to the U.S. in 1912 from Jamaica, where the poinsettia is also called flame-leaf.